Tabitha Turner, an Atlanta-based NBA and WNBA reporter was allegedly violently attacked by her rideshare driver earlier this month.
According to Atlanta News First, Hapeville Police confirmed that she was punched and pepper-sprayed during an altercation with an Uber driver. Law enforcement arrived to find three women: Turner, the driver, Mericole Smith, and a witness who stopped to help and took video of the altercation. Turner had allegedly requested Smith to roll up the windows during the ride and turn on the air conditioner, to which Smith allegedly refused and asked Turner to exit the vehicle.
Per the outlet, Turner refused to leave the ride until it was refunded, before Smith lashed out with pepper spray. Police claim that Turner responded with her own pepper spray in self-defense, also scratching Smith in the process. Smith was hospitalized and, in her own viral video, claimed Turner had a weapon, the news outlet reported.
In her TikTok, Smith claimed she turned the air conditioning on at Turner’s request; however, the windows were cracked. She also alleged that Turner initiated the escalation and said she used mace in self-defense, not pepper spray.
“I’m going to act in my best interest, which is to protect myself,” Smith exclaimed. “And that’s what I did. I maced the sh*t out of her.”
The police report noted the area where the altercation occured as “a dangerous place to load and unload passengers,” and according to Atlanta News First, detailed probable cause to charge Smith with battery and simple battery.
During a press conference, Turner refuted the claims made by Smith on social media and claimed the ordeal has resulted in her being harassed. Her lawyer, Miguel Dominquez, also spoke beside her on behalf of his client.
“To pull over on the expressway suddenly, in the emergency lane with vehicles flying by, and to decide you’re going to tell the passenger, ‘You need to get out with your bags on the side of the expressway,’ is not a reasonable request by any stretch of the imagination,” explained Dominquez. “It was unsafe for her to do so, and it was completely unreasonable.”
“I’ve received threats via social media about my karma that’s coming to me,” Turner emotionally detailed. “Defaming my character, calling me all kinds of names. Saying things about why I attacked her and just how horrible of a person I am.”
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